Bossier City to ask attorney general about validity of term limits petition

BOSSIER CITY, La. (KSLA) — The Bossier City Council again has kicked the can on deciding whether the mayor and council members should serve under term limits.

During Tuesday’s meeting, city attorney Charles Jacobs suggested that council members ask the Louisiana attorney general whether the petition calling for a term limits election is valid.

The city attorney believes a technicality — the lack of signees’ years of birth — may have kept the petition from being properly certified.

“So, this is not an opinion on the entire scope of term limits, but it is an opinion of does the petition that has been presented to the council, was it properly certified due to the lack of year of birth information?” Jacobs asked.

District 1 Councilman Brian Hammons reminded his peers that he previously suggested going to the attorney general. “If three weeks ago my motion to send this to the attorney general from the get-go instead of wasting taxpayers’ money on an outside attorney, then we would already have the attorney general’s opinion.”

Councilman-at-large David Montgomery said he wants to ensure the next steps in the term limits decision are done correctly. “I want to make sure, and I’m sure everybody on this council including the mayor, ensure that this is done properly, and again, by the book.”

While the timeline of the decision is uncertain, Hammons hopes going to the attorney general will be the last diversion. “I’m hoping that this will be, you know, the last stop, that after the attorney general’s opinion, that we move forward and give the people of Bossier City what they want.”

If the attorney general agrees that the petition is invalid, the petition will be dead on arrival, according to the city attorney. At that point, the City Council would be unable to take further action on it.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

Copyright 2023 KSLA. All rights reserved.